rose hips

[jturner]

When is the best time to harvest rose hips and what is the best way to use and store them?

[Pat B]

After they turn red so now is OK. They are bitter so probably better to be steeped into a tea. Lots of Vit C in rose hips.

[jamie]

once they are hit by a good frost the bitterness leaves and they are sweeter. dry them slowly and they will store for a long time. even dry they can be used in muffins but you have to remove the seeds. best used as a tea.

[Tsalagi]

My wife made jam out them this year. Tart, but nice on toast with bacon and eggs!

[jturner]

Thanks guys i know they have lots of vit c but most ive tried have no real taste

[bootboy]

i just made some arrows from rose hip shoots and its retaaaaardly good stuff

[Jude]

Anyone know if the cyanide content of the seeds is like that of apples?  Don't worry though, i think you would need to steep for an awful long time to leach any out of the seeds; they need to be crushed for it to be a problem.

[jturner]

Must have to crush alot of them to be poison. I knew they were close relatives with apples and heard bout apple seeds bein bad but i have always ate rose hips seeds and all. I am still alive  im sure with all the chemicals in our food now days you probally couldnt eat enuff in a day to be as bad for you as a meal from a fast food place

[Jude]

It's been a long time since I ate a rose hip, so I can't recall, but if the crushed seeds smell like amaretto, they aren't to good for you, but I think you need about a cupfull of apple seeds to have enough to kill you.

[Diligence]

rose hip seeds have been linked to....um....rectal discomfort.  The little hairs do not digest well and can cause irritation when ingested in large volumes.

As for rose hip jelly, it's great as a toast spread and I have mixed the meat from rose hips and labrador tea leaves together to make a nice sweet "chewing tobacco"...